Brisbane
The, now, not so mighty Lions have patiently rebuilding themselves over the last couple of years, and there is much to suggest that there is still much way on the journey back to AFL dominance.
Much has been made of the loss of experienced players such as Akermanis, Keating, Leppitsch, Michael, Brad Scott & especially Voss. However, this will work towards Brisbane's long term renewal.
The holes are no longer camouflaged by yesterday's heroes, and are now being filled by talented juniors with a long term future.
"Lethal" Leigh Matthews continues as senior coach, and looks to be assisted by a very well-rounded group in Craig Lambert, Shaun Rehn, Justin Leppitsch & Paul Hudson.
The List, fig.1, initially indicates to me, and I could have this wrong, that there are 48 players on the Brisbane list. I thought 47 was the maximum for Sydney & Brisbane, but the BrisbaneFC website also indicates 48 players.
Of the 48, there are 10 new players, and nine rookies. This would indicate that possibly their rookie list has been overstated. (Now we know L.Clark & Forsyth are delisted & Voss has retired.)
Also interestingly is that only 14 of the 48 players, 30%, are under 186cm. This would indicate that they do not yet have enough speedy smaller runners. Simply, they will be too slow.
There are 16 players between 185-189cm tall, ie taller mediums. These are far too many of this type, as 10 would be sufficient. This area will need clearing out come 2007's end.
The Spread, fig.2, shows the cost Brisbane are still paying for their early 2,000s success. There are still a handful of players at or near retirement. Yet the next layer of 25-27yo players looks thin.
Another area that needs to be looked at is the overdoing of junior mediums on their list. As mentioned before, the 185-189cm group needs essential pruning.
The other area that needs immediate attention is the decimation of their mosquito fleet. When they were premiers, Brisbane boasted the best mosquito fleet in the AFL. This is clearly not the case now.
Positional Depth, fig.3, clearly shows that Brisbane have far too many taller flankers. This comes at the expense of medium aged key position players and genuine midfielders.
The spine, apart from a couple of big names, looks very fragile, and the on-ball division looks the same. Strangely, Brisbane are very well off for ruckman.
These are the areas that they will have to develop over the coming years.
Conclusion:
Brisbane seem to be a long way off the field. They have too many average sized players and little pace.
As seen last year, the "Gabba" is no longer the fortress it was, and Lions supporters can probably be prepared for a season very similar to 2006.
They say that one must confront problems before they are overcome. Let's hope, for Brisbane's sake, that 2007 proves to be the year that some of these problems are confronted.
Again, I would be grateful if anyone can spot any errors.
The, now, not so mighty Lions have patiently rebuilding themselves over the last couple of years, and there is much to suggest that there is still much way on the journey back to AFL dominance.
Much has been made of the loss of experienced players such as Akermanis, Keating, Leppitsch, Michael, Brad Scott & especially Voss. However, this will work towards Brisbane's long term renewal.
The holes are no longer camouflaged by yesterday's heroes, and are now being filled by talented juniors with a long term future.
"Lethal" Leigh Matthews continues as senior coach, and looks to be assisted by a very well-rounded group in Craig Lambert, Shaun Rehn, Justin Leppitsch & Paul Hudson.
| Fig.1, The List | |||||
| Cameron Wood | 204 | 95 | 20 | ||
| Beau McDonald | 203 | 103 | 27 | ||
| Matt Leuenberger | 203 | 93 | 18 | new | |
| Mitchell Clark | 198 | 91 | 19 | ||
| Jamie Charman | 197 | 101 | 24 | ||
| Daniel Merrett | 196 | 102 | 22 | ||
| Wayde Mills | 196 | 88 | 19 | ||
| Joel Tippett | 196 | 92 | 18 | new | rookie |
| Jonathan Brown | 195 | 102 | 25 | ||
| Pat Garner | 194 | 86 | 20 | ||
| Matt Tyler | 194 | 82 | 18 | new | |
| Jason Roe | 192 | 84 | 23 | ||
| Jared Brennan | 192 | 94 | 22 | ||
| Daniel Bradshaw | 191 | 95 | 28 | ||
| Scott Clouston | 191 | 84 | 19 | new | rookie |
| Richard Hadley | 190 | 88 | 24 | ||
| Joel Patfull | 190 | 88 | 22 | ||
| Will Hamill | 189 | 74 | 20 | rookie | |
| Nigel Lappin | 188 | 87 | 30 | ||
| Tim Notting | 188 | 87 | 28 | ||
| Josh Drummond | 188 | 85 | 23 | ||
| Chris Schmidt | 188 | 81 | 17 | new | |
| Robert Copeland | 187 | 85 | 25 | ||
| Troy Selwood | 187 | 83 | 22 | ||
| Matthew Moody | 187 | 85 | 21 | ||
| Colm Begley | 187 | 81 | 20 | rookie | |
| Simon Black | 186 | 82 | 27 | ||
| Joel MacDonald | 186 | 88 | 22 | ||
| Anthony Corrie | 186 | 80 | 22 | rookie | |
| Cheynee Stiller | 186 | 76 | 20 | ||
| Daniel Dzufer | 186 | 81 | 19 | new | rookie |
| James Hawksley | 186 | 73 | 17 | new | |
| Jed Adcock | 184 | 82 | 21 | ||
| Michael Rischitelli | 183 | 82 | 21 | ||
| Justin Sherman | 183 | 87 | 20 | ||
| Sam Sheldon | 183 | 79 | 17 | new | |
| Chris Scott | 182 | 90 | 30 | ||
| Ashley McGrath | 182 | 80 | 23 | ||
| Scott Harding | 181 | 78 | 20 | ||
| Chris Johnson | 180 | 89 | 30 | ||
| Ben Fixter | 180 | 84 | 25 | ||
| Marcus Allan | 180 | 75 | 20 | ||
| Albert Proud | 180 | 83 | 18 | new | |
| Luke Power | 179 | 75 | 27 | ||
| Haydn Kiel | 178 | 79 | 19 | new | rookie |
| Rhan Hooper | 177 | 72 | 19 |
Of the 48, there are 10 new players, and nine rookies. This would indicate that possibly their rookie list has been overstated. (Now we know L.Clark & Forsyth are delisted & Voss has retired.)
Also interestingly is that only 14 of the 48 players, 30%, are under 186cm. This would indicate that they do not yet have enough speedy smaller runners. Simply, they will be too slow.
There are 16 players between 185-189cm tall, ie taller mediums. These are far too many of this type, as 10 would be sufficient. This area will need clearing out come 2007's end.
| Fig.2 - The Spread | |||||||
| <175 | 175-179 | 180-184 | 185-189 | 190-194 | 195-199 | 200+ | |
| 28+ | Scott 182 30 M | Lappin 188 30 M | Bradshaw 191 28 F | ||||
| Johnson 180 30 D | Notting 188 28 M | ||||||
| 25-27 | Power 179 27 M | Fixter 180 25 D | Black 186 27 M | Brown 195 25 F | B.McDonald 203 27 R | ||
| Copeland 187 25 M | |||||||
| 22-24 | McGrath 182 23 F | Drummond 188 23 D | Hadley 190 24 M | Charman 197 24 R | |||
| Selwood 187 22 D | Roe 192 23 D | Merrett 196 22 F | |||||
| J.MacDonald 186 22 D | Brennan 192 22 D | ||||||
| Corrie 186 22 F | Patfull 190 22 F | ||||||
| 18-21 | Kiel 178 19 M | Adcock 184 21 D | Moody 187 21 F | Garner 194 20 D | M.Clark 198 19 F | Wood 204 20 R | |
| Hooper 177 19 M | Rischitelli 183 21 F | Hamill 189 20 D | Clouston 191 19 M | Mills 196 19 D | Leuenberger 203 18 R | ||
| Sherman 183 20 M | Begley 187 20 M | Tyler 194 18 D | Tippett 196 18 F | ||||
| Harding 181 20 M | Stiller 186 20 M | ||||||
| Allan 180 20 M | |||||||
| Proud 180 18 M | Dzufer 186 19 D | ||||||
| -18 | Sheldon 183 17 M | Schmidt 188 17 M | |||||
| Hawksley 186 17 D | |||||||
Another area that needs to be looked at is the overdoing of junior mediums on their list. As mentioned before, the 185-189cm group needs essential pruning.
The other area that needs immediate attention is the decimation of their mosquito fleet. When they were premiers, Brisbane boasted the best mosquito fleet in the AFL. This is clearly not the case now.
| Fig.3 - Positional Depth | |||
| B: | Johnson 180 30 D | Roe 192 23 D | Hadley 190 24 D |
| Fixter 180 25 D | Brennan 192 22 D | ||
| Hamill 189 20 D | |||
| HB: | Drummond 188 23 D | Garner 194 20 D | Scott 182 30 M |
| Selwood 187 22 D | Mills 196 19 D | Adcock 184 21 D | |
| J.MacDonald 186 22 D | Tyler 194 18 D | ||
| Dzufer 186 19 D | |||
| Hawksley 186 17 D | |||
| C: | Notting 188 28 M | Black 186 27 M | Harding 181 20 M |
| Copeland 187 25 M | Sherman 183 20 M | Kiel 178 19 M | |
| Begley 187 20 M | Sheldon 183 17 M | ||
| Clouston 191 19 M | |||
| HF: | Corrie 186 22 F | Brown 195 25 F | McGrath 182 23 F |
| Moody 187 21 F | Merrett 196 22 F | Rischitelli 183 21 F | |
| Proud 180 18 M | |||
| F: | M.Clark 198 19 F | Bradshaw 191 28 F | Hooper 177 19 M |
| Tippett 196 18 F | Patfull 192 22 F | ||
| R: | B.McDonald 203 27 R | Lappin 188 30 M | Power 179 27 M |
| Charman 197 24 R | Stiller 186 20 M | Allan 180 20 M | |
| Schmidt 188 17 M | |||
| Wood 204 20 R | |||
| Leuenberger 203 18 R |
The spine, apart from a couple of big names, looks very fragile, and the on-ball division looks the same. Strangely, Brisbane are very well off for ruckman.
These are the areas that they will have to develop over the coming years.
Conclusion:
Brisbane seem to be a long way off the field. They have too many average sized players and little pace.
As seen last year, the "Gabba" is no longer the fortress it was, and Lions supporters can probably be prepared for a season very similar to 2006.
They say that one must confront problems before they are overcome. Let's hope, for Brisbane's sake, that 2007 proves to be the year that some of these problems are confronted.
Again, I would be grateful if anyone can spot any errors.
